IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i20p4025-d278661.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘There You Enjoy Life, Here You Work’: Brazilian and Dominican Immigrants’ Views on Work and Health in the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Araujo Brinkerhoff

    (School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • C. Eduardo Siqueira

    (Department of Environment and Public Health, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA)

  • Rosalyn Negrón

    (Anthropology Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA)

  • Natalicia Tracy

    (Brazilian Worker Center, Boston, MA 02134, USA)

  • Magalis Troncoso Lama

    (Dominican Development Center, Boston, MA 02130, USA)

  • Linda Sprague Martinez

    (School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

Abstract

Structural inequalities in the U.S. work environment place most immigrants in low paying, high-risk jobs. Understanding how work experiences and influence the health of different immigrant populations is essential to address disparities. This article explores how Brazilian and Dominican immigrants feel about their experiences working in the U.S. and how the relationship between work and culture might impact their health. In partnership with the Dominican Development Center and the Brazilian Worker Center, we held five cultural conversations (CCs) with Brazilians ( n = 48) and five with Dominicans ( n = 40). CCs are participatory, unstructured groups facilitated by representatives from or embedded in the community. Brazilian immigrants focused on physical health and the American Dream while Dominicans immigrants emphasized concerns about the influence of work on mental health. Dominicans’ longer tenure in the U.S. and differences in how Brazilians and Dominicans are racialized in the region might account for the variation in perspectives between groups. Future studies should further investigate the relationship between health and how immigrants’ work lives are shaped by culture, race and immigrant status.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Araujo Brinkerhoff & C. Eduardo Siqueira & Rosalyn Negrón & Natalicia Tracy & Magalis Troncoso Lama & Linda Sprague Martinez, 2019. "‘There You Enjoy Life, Here You Work’: Brazilian and Dominican Immigrants’ Views on Work and Health in the U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-16, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:20:p:4025-:d:278661
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/4025/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/4025/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bindu Panikkar & Doug Brugge & David M Gute & Raymond R Hyatt, 2015. "“They See Us As Machines:” The Experience of Recent Immigrant Women in the Low Wage Informal Labor Sector," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Minkler, M. & Salvatore, A.L. & Chang, C. & Gaydos, M. & Liu, S.S. & Lee, P.T. & Tom, A. & Bhatia, R. & Krause, N., 2014. "Wage theft as a neglected public health problem: An overview and case study from san francisco's chinatown district," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1010-1020.
    3. Gute, D.M. & Siqueira, E. & Goldberg, J.S. & Galvão, H. & Chianelli, M. & Pirie, A., 2009. "The Vida Verde Women's Co-Op: Brazilian immigrants organizing to promote environmental and social justice," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99, pages 495-498.
    4. Landsbergis, P.A. & Choi, B. & Dobson, M. & Sembajwe, G. & Slatin, C. & Delp, L. & Siqueira, C.E. & Schnall, P. & Baron, S., 2018. "The key role of work in population health inequities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 108(3), pages 296-297.
    5. Quach, T. & Gunier, R. & Tran, A. & Von Behren, J. & Doan-Billings, P.-A. & Nguyen, K.-D. & Okahara, L. & Lui, B.Y.-B. & Nguyen, M. & Huynh, J. & Reynolds, P., 2011. "Characterizing workplace exposures in Vietnamese women working in California nail salons," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(SUPPL. 1), pages 271-276.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Binet & Vedette Gavin & Leigh Carroll & Mariana Arcaya, 2019. "Designing and Facilitating Collaborative Research Design and Data Analysis Workshops: Lessons Learned in the Healthy Neighborhoods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Michael K. Lemke & Adam Hege & Alexander M. Crizzle, 2023. "An Agenda for Advancing Research and Prevention at the Nexus of Work Organization, Occupational Stress, and Mental Health and Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-12, May.
    3. Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez & Noreen Goldman & Anne Pebley & Josefina Flores, 2020. "Calloused hands, shorter life? Occupation and older-age survival in Mexico," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(32), pages 875-900.
    4. Anne R Pebley & Noreen Goldman & Theresa Andrasfay & Boriana Pratt, 2021. "Trajectories of physical functioning among older adults in the US by race, ethnicity and nativity: Examining the role of working conditions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, March.
    5. San Juanita García & Taylor Trummel & Monica Cornejo & Katherine Maldonado & Ana Ojeda & Humberto Flores & Bruce G. Link, 2021. "Immigrant Health Inequities: Exposing Diversions and White Supremacy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    6. Bindu Panikkar & Doug Brugge & David M Gute & Raymond R Hyatt, 2015. "“They See Us As Machines:” The Experience of Recent Immigrant Women in the Low Wage Informal Labor Sector," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Melton-Fant, Courtnee, 2023. "Corporate influenced state preemption and health: A legal mapping analysis of workers’ rights preemption bills in the US south," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    8. Adam Hege & Michael K. Lemke & Yorghos Apostolopoulos & Brian Whitaker & Sevil Sönmez, 2019. "Work-Life Conflict among U.S. Long-Haul Truck Drivers: Influences of Work Organization, Perceived Job Stress, Sleep, and Organizational Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:20:p:4025-:d:278661. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.